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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26954728">No Language Left</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/arescased/pseuds/Ares'>Ares (arescased)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Soul Calibur</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Enemies, Eventual Smut, Injury, Language Barrier, M/M, Power Dynamics</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 18:47:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,687</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26954728</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/arescased/pseuds/Ares</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Following Kilik as he treads westward to face Nightmare, Grøh separates from his associates and chooses to take on the monk by himself to test his worth. Unfortunately for him, the duel does not go as planned. Both Malfested, the two connect on a level that neither wishes to indulge with the added failure to account for the large language barrier that separates them without a mutual party to translate. However, that doesn't stop them from communicating completely.</p><p>This meeting was intended to be much more short-lived.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Grøh/Kilik (Soul Calibur)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>No Language Left</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Characters speaking between &lt; &gt; within italics aren't speaking the same language as the character the chapter is focused on.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sanity blurs with the slice of a blade.</p><p>There was always a sense of foolishness that came in an old wives’ notion that if one lived by the blade, they were bound to die by it. Such a life lent itself to danger in its very instance of thought. If he were to die by the sword, he’d die well whether the hand was that of an Outsider or his own.</p><p>Another grain of sand travels down the hourglass.</p><p>One has to wonder if this were the day it would all be stained red.</p><p>Red… oh, blasted color.</p><p>Looking to the sky from where he lay against the rockface, there was irony in the colorful streaks blazing across the horizon from where he could see between heavy canopy that loomed overhead. There were patches of leaves that were beginning to change color with the impending autumn winds. Soon, it would be much colder in these woods. Eerie silence would consume snow-laden ground with fresh sheets covering the footsteps of the lost. Forests like this felt suffocating — no easy way in or out. The fear of losing one’s self was a constant, be it physically or mentally.</p><p>How many men found themselves lost in these woods only to lose their minds before they could find civilization again?</p><p>Grøh was beginning to wonder what he’d lose here. If he survived this, he didn’t know how much longer he would with the way his vision faded at the edges. A man once said he was very unlucky… that he needed someone to look after him. Once, it hit him as childish doting, but it wasn’t until that guardianship had left him that he longed for its presence. It wasn’t often the fear of death struck a man such as him.</p><p>Fear wasn’t acceptable, no matter the circumstances that laid it.</p><p>Gauntlet planted upon the earth, all the force he could muster up wasn’t enough to bring himself from the ground. Difficult to tell if it was the failure of his own strength or rather it battling against the sudden jutting edge of a staff pressing against his breast. There was something far different about this foe than he’d originally expected. He felt the air suddenly exhausted from his mouth with a guttural groan as he sunk down, the last bit of red fading from his eyes as he tested the fit of his gauntlet on his arm.</p><p>He wanted to continue fighting, to stand and press on with every bit of bite he could muster. If he were to truly push forward, the cost would be his sanity. The feeble grip he held over the reins that preventing him from truly crossing over the threshold of losing his mind was that of a child taking charge of a wild bull. With one wrong move, he’d lose himself now. Though what would it matter if he were to be killed here regardless? He could cast aside his accursed crutch that bore down on his shoulder in an instant.</p><p>To become an uncontrollable monster was a fate worse than death.</p><p>Upon exhaling, all he could smell was the stench of blood on his tongue.</p><p>The smacking of his lips upon each other with a forced swallow just to rid his tongue of cotton was just enough of an action to have the staff tip against his chin to guide his glance upward. Live by the sword…. Die by the sword.</p><p>This wasn’t a <strong>sword</strong> at all.</p><p>Sweet irony, you devilish <em>bitch</em>.</p><p>Though there was a stabbing pain in his side, his pride hurt the most. One of dogged loyalty held little regard for personal safety. His body was merely a vessel for his loyalty. His purpose was to service his mission and nothing else. That was the rhetoric he repeated ad nauseam in the back of his head as if it would bring him a shred of comfort.</p><p>Ha, comfort.</p><p>He’d spit this blood in the face of comfort if it meant accomplishing his mission’s goal. He’d faced far worse than all this and was driven to the point of madness to keep himself alive to achieve the bittersweet taste. He didn’t come here with the intent of killing anyone. He was in search of the man known as Kilik — an man from the east who’d made great strides toward taking down the alleged Azure Knight himself.</p><p>Grøh could hear the muffled sound of voices beginning to group near him through raging tinnitus. He couldn’t tell if it was the distraction of the ringing or the people themselves that made it impossible for him to understand the words piercing his ears. The sound of their chatter was piercing — causing him to nauseously writhe as his right hand managed to plant itself on the weapon’s shaft.</p><p>“What—?”</p><p>The word was scratchily pulled from his throat with a choke. There was pause from the figures that seemingly danced to and fro in his dizzied glance. With the blur of his sight, it was impossible for him to make out whether their numbers were three or twelve… either seemed plausible from this position.</p><p>He could feel his grasp on the weapon’s shaft being challenged. It was seized from him with little effort. It was pathetic how weak he felt… No matter the urgency in his movement, pressure weighing down on his chest made it difficult to draw a deep breath.</p><p>This couldn’t be it. He’d weathered far worse and came out the other side. He’d come here to test them in order to see if they were worthy of the path they were on. Little did he know they’d catch him before he could strike first. There had to be news of his travels coming from elsewhere for them to catch him so easily. A spread of information like that was more troubling than the act of being caught itself.</p><p>“&lt;<em>He doesn’t look like he’s from around here.</em>&gt;”</p><p>“&lt;<em>We don’t look like we’re from around here either…</em>&gt;”</p><p>Grøh couldn’t make sense of the words coming out of their mouths, frankly. He had a good amount of intel, but perhaps there was a linguistic divide that wasn’t accounted for. From where he could see, the hoard of people before him were still posed for a fight. They knew he was a threat even as he was groveling on the floor looking for an anchor point in this dimly lit reality.</p><p>“<span>&lt;</span><em>Do you think he was sent here to kill us? Some sort of assassin?</em><span>&gt;</span>”</p><p>“&lt;<em>Everything out here has been trying to kill us.</em>&gt;”</p><p>“&lt;<em>Did you see his hair change and the way his eyes were glowing? He’s not some ordinary demon running around out here, Kilik. Look at that thing on his arm.</em>&gt;”</p><p>If anything, Grøh could understand two things. Indeed the man who’d pinned him there was Kilik. He’d thought he’d gotten him corner when he was alone, but his friends were no ordinary fools. The other point of contention he had was with the single word he could make out — <em>demon</em>.</p><p>His skin crawled as he realized the poisonous tone which the word was spouted toward him. With every little fiber of his being, he wanted to protest it. He wanted to dispute the very idea that he was like any demon or Outsider that walked this land, even despite the festering shard embedded in him.</p><p>He could feel the rockface at his back and shifted, planting his right hand on it to help brace him to stand. Like a baby deer taking its first steps, his knees quaked like they’d never done before. This was far beyond any mere battle injury.</p><p>
  <em>What did they do to him?</em>
</p><p>Grøh choked on his own breath, flush up against the jagged edges prodding at his back and digging into his bare hand. He wouldn’t be captured by fools like this. He’d sooner rather die if they were going to be dragging their feet with finishing him off.</p><p>He was not the victim in this little game they were playing.</p><p>They’d be getting no information and he would not risk another of his ranks coming to save him if it came to that point. He’d seen enough loss to know he could not be responsible for another. He stayed as vigilant as he could manage though his muscles quivered and began to fail him the moment he tried to scramble for his saber.</p><p>“Stand down.” His voice broke through like glass. He just barely managed to take a step forward, wielding Aerondight between his numb fingers and wavering stance. He could break it apart and slash two of his innumerable foes before they could take a step though he couldn’t manage to will his legs to work. His opponents stood opposite him. They didn’t look like they wished to kill him — no, they simply looked confused as to how he managed to climb back to his full height without sinking back down to his knees.</p><p>“I shall not… concede.”</p><p>He pointed his saber out toward the throat of the man he knew was named Kilik. The man he’d come here to warn of the path yet to come. His eyes settled for just a moment long enough for him to see the utter confusion and concern in the man’s eyes.</p><p>There was a glint in his gaze that peered upon him with something that turned Grøh’s stomach worse than any Outsider could.</p><p>It was <strong>pity</strong>.</p><p>Pain be damned.</p><p>Pride took hold of him and he took a step forward, raising his weapon. The dwindling light of the sun, his blade’s shine twinkled in the eyes of his foes as he moved to strike them with a surge of recklessness that he should have known better than to act upon.</p><p>“Swallow that look. I will <span>not</span> hold back a second time!”</p><p>He swung overhead, feeling himself make contact as someone cried out with a scream before he felt a sudden strike to the back of his skull ripple down his spine.</p><p>The corners of his eyes went black, spiraling inward as he felt his legs give out completely.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Ever since starting SCVI, I wanted to write this fic and now it's time that I finally get around to working on it and posting it. Yes, it's completely going against canon in a lot of ways, but I love the idea that there'd be huge language barriers between the characters. </p><p>Also shameless Grøh/Kilik hours because I said so.</p><p>There's a few more chapters to this that I want to get through so please join me on this journey! This one is a bit shorter that I planned, but it goes with the set-up I was looking for. </p><p>Be excellent to each other!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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